With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Classroom management seemed to be more trying at the middle school level when dealing with crazy 7th graders. Most of the high schoolers I have now are pretty relaxed and classroom management is currently (I say currently because I know how fast things change from day to day) not extremely trying. The only time my current students are in need of redirection seems to be during transitions. I'm still getting used to block scheduling, and having all this time for activities is blowing my mind (ha)! I've tried to make good use of the time and have created lessons with multiple activities, and I noticed the only time students are chatty is during these transitions. With a quick redirection they seem to jump right into the next activity with no major issues.
In the middle school, however, classroom management was, at one point, the first thing on my list of worries. It seemed that when the students noticed that my CT was now not in the room anymore they wanted to see how far they could push me. The side conversations definitely started to take over my valuable classtime. For about 2 weeks I tried a new technique every couple of days...1. The long drawn out "this is disrespectful" talk, 2. The "I'll wait for you" technique, 3. Moving seats (which acutally impoved the situation greatly) 4. and finally the "ticket to lunch with Miss Jakob" technique. With all these techniques I found pros and cons, some worked well and some bombed instantly. My final decision was a combination of techniques, as well as, a great deal of advice from my ever knowledgeable CT.
What finally worked...
1. Explained to the students that they are wasting my time...
2. We won't be able to get to the more enjoyable stuff (at this point more enjoyable stuff was using microscopes) if I have to wait for them
3. I will give them 2 minutes either at the beginning or end of class to talk to all their friends in the class "I know this may be the only time you get to see your friends during the day (totally not true but I sound pretty sympathetic) so I will allow you 2 minutes to get all your talking out. After that it is my time to get through the stuff we need to so we can move on. Anyone who feels the need to talk after your 2 minutes is up will be talking to me during lunch, when you could be talking to those friends again"
4. I wrote out quick messages on sticky notes "I'll see you for lunch" and only had to place 1 sticky note in front of 1 student ever, before the rest of the class took the hint.
5. Sticky notes were great because it didn't draw any extra attention to the student already being disruptive and I didn't have to stop what I was doing I would just casually walk by and put down the note ;)
6. When the 1 student came for lunch I kept him for all of 2 minutes and he knew what he was there for. Tip from my CT: just because they have to come see you for lunch doesn't mean you have to keep them the entire time. Those 2 minutes were just enough to inconvinece him to the point where maybe he didn't get a good seat, or he was at the back of the lunch line...just to bug them enough to where they don't want to have to come see you again.
7. I also realized that I had to consistently give up my 2 minutes every class everyday in order for this system to work. To a teacher that 2 minutes seems invaluable but it was much less time wasted then if I had to constantly stop and wait for talking to stop. The students also realized that I was holding up my end of the bargain so they held up theirs...If I forgot the 2 minutes one day they would remind me throughout the class. If I promised to do 4 minutes the next day because we needed the time that day they would not let me forget...a deal is a deal ha and they were always ontop of how many minutes they were owed.
After my 2 weeks of trying things constantly I resolved my classroom management issues. I think that may be the key...try it to see what works. What works with one class may not work with the other, which means there is no magical fix. Taking a hit or miss approach to see what may improve the situaiton is what worked for me.
RJ06 -Reflective Journal Entry 6
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Classroom management seemed to be more trying at the middle school level when dealing with crazy 7th graders. Most of the high schoolers I have now are pretty relaxed and classroom management is currently (I say currently because I know how fast things change from day to day) not extremely trying. The only time my current students are in need of redirection seems to be during transitions. I'm still getting used to block scheduling, and having all this time for activities is blowing my mind (ha)! I've tried to make good use of the time and have created lessons with multiple activities, and I noticed the only time students are chatty is during these transitions. With a quick redirection they seem to jump right into the next activity with no major issues.
In the middle school, however, classroom management was, at one point, the first thing on my list of worries. It seemed that when the students noticed that my CT was now not in the room anymore they wanted to see how far they could push me. The side conversations definitely started to take over my valuable classtime. For about 2 weeks I tried a new technique every couple of days...1. The long drawn out "this is disrespectful" talk, 2. The "I'll wait for you" technique, 3. Moving seats (which acutally impoved the situation greatly) 4. and finally the "ticket to lunch with Miss Jakob" technique. With all these techniques I found pros and cons, some worked well and some bombed instantly. My final decision was a combination of techniques, as well as, a great deal of advice from my ever knowledgeable CT.
What finally worked...
1. Explained to the students that they are wasting my time...
2. We won't be able to get to the more enjoyable stuff (at this point more enjoyable stuff was using microscopes) if I have to wait for them
3. I will give them 2 minutes either at the beginning or end of class to talk to all their friends in the class "I know this may be the only time you get to see your friends during the day (totally not true but I sound pretty sympathetic) so I will allow you 2 minutes to get all your talking out. After that it is my time to get through the stuff we need to so we can move on. Anyone who feels the need to talk after your 2 minutes is up will be talking to me during lunch, when you could be talking to those friends again"
4. I wrote out quick messages on sticky notes "I'll see you for lunch" and only had to place 1 sticky note in front of 1 student ever, before the rest of the class took the hint.
5. Sticky notes were great because it didn't draw any extra attention to the student already being disruptive and I didn't have to stop what I was doing I would just casually walk by and put down the note ;)
6. When the 1 student came for lunch I kept him for all of 2 minutes and he knew what he was there for. Tip from my CT: just because they have to come see you for lunch doesn't mean you have to keep them the entire time. Those 2 minutes were just enough to inconvinece him to the point where maybe he didn't get a good seat, or he was at the back of the lunch line...just to bug them enough to where they don't want to have to come see you again.
7. I also realized that I had to consistently give up my 2 minutes every class everyday in order for this system to work. To a teacher that 2 minutes seems invaluable but it was much less time wasted then if I had to constantly stop and wait for talking to stop. The students also realized that I was holding up my end of the bargain so they held up theirs...If I forgot the 2 minutes one day they would remind me throughout the class. If I promised to do 4 minutes the next day because we needed the time that day they would not let me forget...a deal is a deal ha and they were always ontop of how many minutes they were owed.
After my 2 weeks of trying things constantly I resolved my classroom management issues. I think that may be the key...try it to see what works. What works with one class may not work with the other, which means there is no magical fix. Taking a hit or miss approach to see what may improve the situaiton is what worked for me.